Jason Kidd, who turned 33 yesterday, remembered back to when he entered the league – at age 21. Back then, 33 was ancient.

“When I came in the league and you looked at my teammates like Rex Chapman, Danny Manning, Wayman Tisdale and Hot Rod Williams, they had double digit [years]. . . . I just wanted to make it to where they were because they had some success,” Kidd said. “They were maybe a little long-toothed, but when you looked at [John] Stockton, Michael [Jordan] and those guys who can do it at that age, it gave you hope.

“I feel great. A little bit smarter, maybe a little more wiser,” Kidd said. “Maybe I just can’t dunk, but aside from that . . .”

Rookie Antoine Wright sang “Happy Birthday” to Kidd. He did it in a hip-hop version. “It was right there with Marvin Gaye,” Kidd said.

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Entering last night’s game vs. Minnesota, the Nets’ magic number was at 10 to clinch the fourth Atlantic Division title in their history, all since Kidd arrived (2001-02). Their magic number for their fifth straight playoff appearance was six. But Lawrence Frank didn’t care.

“There’s nothing wrapped up. We have a lot of things we have to get done,” Frank said. “Look around the league. Guys get injured, things change. Things in this league go from good to bad, bad to good real quickly.”

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Richard Jefferson entered on a remarkable shooting roll – 22-of-31 in two games. And many of the shots were jumpers. “It’s just getting open and hitting shots,” Jefferson said. “Even [against Washington], I didn’t do too much in the paint. I didn’t do anything different, didn’t see anything different.”

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Kevin Garnett doesn’t want to hear that this Minnesota team, which had a big in-season trade, needs a training camp together. “You just can’t bring this team back. You’ve got to add some major pieces to it, and I think we’ll be very solid for next year,” Garnett said. . . . The T-Wolves had lost 21 of 24 on the road, including their last eight. . . . Rookie Rashad McCants made his first start for Minny.